The Government is considering introducing "blockers" to its computer systems to stop staff receiving, sending or downloading obscene or pornographic material on the Internet.
The use of computer technology that would detect and block words and images considered inappropriate was being considered, an Oireachtas spokeswoman said yesterday.
The aim, she said, was to stop pornographic e-mails from entering the system.
Yesterday it emerged that six staff members of the Revenue Commissioners have been suspended without pay after a senior manager discovered an e-mail containing a pornographic image last week.
Guidelines on the use of the Internet were given to all staff in February.
The guidelines stated that the transmission or downloading of obscene, pornographic or indecent material was strictly forbidden.
The issuing of the guidelines and the subsequent detection of the e-mail in no way indicated that the Oireachtas had suspicions that staff were downloading pornography, the spokeswoman said.
The director of telecommunications with IBEC, Mr Tommy McCabe, said e-mail blockers were becoming an increasingly common way of controlling Internet pornography in the private sector.
"Companies started using products that would scan the content of what was coming in, in the context of protecting the computers against viruses.
"But now more are using them to detect obscene or offensive material," he said.
"The Internet is a standard tool of business, but procedures have to be laid down for its use, and people should know that they could lose their jobs if they break the rules."
